


Hymn of the Golden Bat

by Corvin



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Abusive Neil Hargrove, Anal Sex, First Time Blow Jobs, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, Jealousy, M/M, Neil Hargrove's A+ Parenting, Obsession, Secret Relationship, Secret Virgin Billy, Slice of Life, Steve is a little bit of a cockslut, Steve was raised not to talk about things, Underage Drinking, Unreliable Narrator, weird timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-05-13 21:54:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19259878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corvin/pseuds/Corvin
Summary: King Steve ruled the school in 1983. Some new guy from California wasn't going to change anything.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Got prompted on tumble: 8. “Why are you so jealous” 
> 
> It kept getting longer and longer until I decided it was best read somewhere other than my profile. Posting this in four parts during my roadtrip back to Cali. 
> 
> Didn't proofread, figured I'd die.

**Hawkins, 1983**

 

Steve Harrington never verbally used the title, trying to own it that way would only make him look like he was trying to cling to it. But his ears could pick up any time someone else uttered the words, “King Steve”.

He went to class, to lunch, to games, to parties, because he was a fun loving guy who could be anyone’s friend. Even if he was only friends with the top tier popular people. Steve didn’t think of it as holding court, because everyone knew what it was. He’d been the king for a year and counting because he was the best of Hawkins High.

Carol had been his friend, along with Tommy, since elementary school; she was great, and also had her ear to the ground for anything interesting that happened in Hawkins.

One Monday at lunch, she settled on the bleachers, pressed to Tommy’s side, and mentioned “the hottie with the ass from California.”

Tommy stiffened.

Carol continued when she saw that Steve was interested. Some guy showed up in town over the weekend, and showed up at school that morning in tight jeans with half his chest showing. All the girls were talking about him, giggling and blushing like a movie star had arrived.

“You actually saw him?” Steve asked.

“Oh yeah,” Carol popped her gum with a dreamy look, “you can’t miss him.”

She didn’t catch a name, because she’d only seen him in passing in the parking lot. Steve decided not to ask anyone. If the new guy was really worth talking about, then his name would get around.

Hawkins High wasn’t huge, but news moved through it fast enough. The new guy was still being talked about by the end of the week. Neither Steve, nor his inner circle, shared any classes with him, but Steve did overhear that the guy had a name: Billy Hargrove. And he heard that  _Billy Hargrove_  liked smoking behind the gym during the second passing period.

Tommy was still smarting from Carol’s apparent interest in Billy, so Steve decided to approach him alone. After all, Steve didn’t need backup to say hi to a sophomore who was still probably figuring out how the social hierarchy worked.

He had to run all the way outside to make sure he had time for a quick conversation.

Steve turned the corner and paused. There was no doubt it was the right person, but Steve hadn’t quite been prepared.

Billy was gorgeous. Steve didn’t feel the slightest bit self conscious because you didn’t have to be a girl to notice. Billy’s eyes were so big and blue, made all the bigger and bluer by his long eyelashes and the shape of his brow. His hair was curly and blond, styled in a mullet that brushed over the collar of his denim jacket.

He was leaning back against the brick wall, but he looked to be the same height as Steve, but built with significantly more muscle, with a golden tan that one could only hope to achieve with a fortunate summer in Hawkins.

All in all, it was the sort of appearance that should have made Steve feel physically insecure.

Then Billy Hargrove looked over with sleepy eyes and lazily said, “that you, Harrington?”

It wasn’t a surprise that Billy already knew who he was. Everyone knew who he was.

Now the question was how to handle it. Billy definitely didn’t look as young as a lot of the sophomores, and his voice was already deep and husky. It didn’t feel like dealing with a kid. So that left two options: posture to start with and undermine Billy’s fledgling popularity, or he could see what Mr. California had to offer.

Steve offered his patented Harrington smile and stepped closer to hold out his hand. “It’s Steve. You’re Billy, right?”

Billy looked similarly thoughtful for the briefest second before he nodded and shook the offered hand. “Wanna smoke?”  

Steve nodded back, and Billy produced a slightly flattened, half empty box. “Golden Bat?” Steve asked as he pulled out a cigarette.  

Billy shrugged, tucking the smokes into his jacket pocket. “Guy lived a couple blocks down from my old house brought a fuck-ton when he came over from Japan. Sold ‘em to whoever for cheap.”

Imported was Steve’s automatic ‘rich boy’ thought. Before he could reach for his lighter, Billy produced a zippo and flipped it open. Steve leaned in and lit his cigarette, cautiously testing the unfamiliar taste.

He exhaled upwards and nodded with an impressed face, “not bad.”

Billy blew a smoke ring in response, and grinned when Steve puffed a clumsy cloud at it. “Better’n the Camel shit my dad smokes.”

“We can’t all have Japanese imported cigarettes,” Steve said with a pout. He didn’t like Camels either though. Billy earned another point for his short laugh at the shitty joke.

It was a perfectly fine first meeting; benign, casual, cordial, all the things his mom would say to describe a dinner party where she didn’t get too drunk.

At one point, Steve had learned that Billy Hargrove was in all AP classes. Normally, he would wonder if that made Billy some kind of nerd or snob. But for the six minutes they’d gotten to talk, he also learned that Billy liked some good music, had already seen Return of the Jedi and Scarface, and apparently knew how to work on cars.

Steve instinctively added that as a mark in his favor as well, if only because it would be useful in case he hit a deer like Tommy did.  

The bell rang signaling the end of the passing period. Billy and Steve had already finished smoking and added their butts to the coffee tin someone else had left out there.

“English,” Steve sighed, tucking his hands in his pocket. He looked at Billy, considered Billy and his admittedly very tight jeans and engineer boots, so very different from Steve’s fashion. For some reason, looking at him, Steve felt like he might be a good fit. “Do you have first or second lunch?”

“First,” Billy replied. There was a good chance he would, even though he was a sophomore since he came later in the year.

Steve nodded, pleased. “Me too. Wanna eat at the bleachers?”

“If I don’t get a better offer,” Billy drawled; and it read like an easy enough joke that he wouldn’t find a better offer, Steve thought. He smiled and took his leave.

He could have been threatened by Billy, maybe, but Steve wasn’t some insecure asshole like the guy _he’d_ replaced at the top of the food chain in sophomore year. Billy was still an unknown, but to fix that, all Steve had to do was know him, figure out if he was coming for the crown, and deal with him however needed.

 

Steve had English with Carol, so he told her first that he’d invited Billy to join them on the bleachers. She was so excited that Steve started to worry Tommy might make a scene. At least Nichole was eating with them that day; she’d probably be happy too.

 

Steve and the others had settled onto the bleachers with their food. For a minute, Steve wondered if Billy was actually stupid enough to stand them up. Nichole spotted him first, making a shrill sound as he strolled out of the school.

Before Carol and Nichole could start fighting over him, Steve beckoned for Billy to sit next to him. He was still feeling Billy out anyway, it made sense for him to sit there.

Billy settled, raising an eyebrow at Tommy who was staring hard at him. He hadn’t immediately resorted to insults though, so Steve trusted that he was going to get over his girlfriend’s wandering eye.

He reclined, noting that Billy hadn’t brought any food with him, just a coke and a smoke. Probably hadn’t brought anything in anticipation of eating in the cafeteria.

Steve had brought a lunchable, a pudding cup, and a capri sun, which admittedly wasn’t the healthiest lunch, but it was the sort of stuff that filled him up when he didn’t feel like packing a lunch.

He made two cracker, meat, and cheese sandwiches out of his lunchable and handed one to Billy without comment.

Steve was accustomed to his friends sometimes picking at his food, so he didn’t mind sharing, especially considering it was his fault Billy didn’t have a chance to grab something. Plus it counted as just another charming thing that Jolly King Steve did.

Billy might have looked overly surprised for a second. But then he shrugged and offered Steve some of his pop.

Carol and Tommy started to banter while Billy watched them. He looked bored, right up until the moment he opened his mouth to crack a joke about Vice Principal Edwards.

It signaled how spot on Steve’s judgement was. Billy would be one of the fold by the end of the week. Another subject under the reign of Steve, maybe even invited to eat with him again at some point.

Everyone finished cackling before Nichole and Carol started cooing over Billy’s exotic tan. Tommy went sour faced again, so Steve offered him some of his pudding cup. And Billy, he was reclining in the waning sun of a dying summer, looking like he should be in a magazine with Farah Fawcett. He was grinning at Steve as he made a joke about Scooby Doo. Again, it wasn’t actually very funny, but Steve felt good.

 

Billy's popularity was solidified after word spread that he ate lunch with King Steve. He made waves in his own year too, both for sneaking rum into his history class, and for beating out Nancy Wheeler in the last chem test.

He was a year behind them, but by October, Billy earned a permanent spot on the bleachers.

 

The first time Steve got drunk with Billy, they’d ended up alone. It was two days before Halloween, and Steve had been driving when he saw Billy sitting on the curb outside the general store. It looked like he had just come out, and he had a plastic bag that he was digging through when Steve pulled up. Something about him seemed ruffled, but Steve couldn’t put his finger on what.

“Hey man,” he said, rolling down his window. “What’s up?”

Billy shrugged, twisting his bag shut. “Had to get out of the house,” his voice was even and calm.

It was a little late in the day to be out, and Steve couldn’t help but notice a toothbrush visible through the bag. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, but something about it sat wrong.

Hawkins got cold and dark at night, Billy was sixteen, but still only a sophomore. And he had a toothbrush. Steve only gave a little bit of thought to his next question, knowing he was personally going home to sit by himself and watch TV. “Want to come over?”

Billy’s eyes narrowed at Steve, it was one of the hardest looks he’d given Steve since the beginning. Steve knew he could be worse, had seen the way his edges sharpened with other people, the way his sleepy eyes got bored and flat when he didn’t think someone was worth his time.

Then Billy stood up from the curb and made his way to the front passenger seat. “Thanks,” he said shortly.

Steve didn’t ask any questions, just started driving to his house while the weird energy surrounding Billy started to wind down.

When they got back to Steve’s house, Steve immediately started preheating the oven for bagel bites. “Don’t know if you’ve had ‘em,” he said to Billy as he dug the box out of the freezer. “But they’re pretty good in a pinch.”

Billy watched him, leaning against the counter with the light hitting his curls and lighting them up. Steve wondered if his own hair ever took on that sort of glow.

“Thought you’d have a butler to make food for you or something,” Billy commented, glancing around at the obvious wealth displayed in Steve’s house.

“Wouldn’t mind,” Steve drawled. “Be easier to watch my figure.”

Billy snorted and looked away from him, staring into the living room.

Steve knelt down to put the bagel bites in the oven. He looked up to make a crack about calling ‘Jeeves’ to bring them to the couch when they were ready, but his eyes caught on discoloration under Billy’s jaw.

It would almost look like a shadow, but Steve had tried covering enough hickeys to know when makeup had been applied. If it had been lower on Billy’s neck, he would have assumed it was a hickey. The feeling of wrongness settled in Steve’s gut again and he closed the over.

“You drink?”

Billy gave him a look and Steve laughed. He’d seen Billy with alcohol plenty of times. Of course Billy drank.

They watched TV, passing a bottle of his dad’s whiskey back and forth, sitting close because they had briefly shoved each other yelling about a commercial. Billy seemed calm again once he was buzzed, and the difference made it more obvious to Steve just how tense he’d been.

There was a light on in the kitchen behind them that Steve hadn’t turned off when he fetched the bagel bites. Most of their light came from the TV, where most of the TV stations were playing B horror movies.

The light caught the stubble on Billy’s jaw, casting a severe shadow where in normal light it was mostly hidden. It made him look older. Steve didn’t really he was staring until Billy turned to him.

Steve tried to remember how much he’d had to drink while they stared at each other. Billy was as fascinating to look at now as he was the first day Steve met him.

There was a tinge of unease as he thought about the bruise hiding under makeup, so Steve focused on something else. Like how he was jealous of the shape of Billy’s lips. Steve had never considered his own lips much, but he knew he liked the shape of Billy’s more than his own.

Billy’s eyes were moving a lot, like he was taking in every detail of Steve the same way Steve was doing to him. He wondered what was going through Billy’s mind when he looked at Steve.

Then the commercials ended, and Billy turned back to the TV. After a second Steve did too, reaching for the bottle that had ended up on the coffee table. He felt more aware of their closeness, but it was nice. He didn’t spend a lot of time just being close to another person. Quiet and restful with no expectations.

He wondered if Billy was happy there.

 

They didn’t talk about that night, but there was a very noticeable shift in their dynamic at school.

Once Steve knew how Billy could make him feel, he wanted to feel like it whenever they had a spare moment. He paid attention to Billy’s schedule, went to find him at lunch so they could walk out to the field together, and when it got too cold to sit outside, Steve glared down a senior who tried to sit next him before Billy could.

It wasn’t subtle, but Steve didn’t care. Billy was in his inner circle, and at the moment, Billy was his favorite.

 

“He suck your dick or something?” Tommy and Steve had study hall together, although it was usually spent reading magazines or sneaking out to smoke.

Steve had been staring down at his math textbook to keep up the guise of doing homework with an issue of Cracked magazine in his lap. He looked up at Tommy with his eyebrows raised, “what?”

“Hargrove,” Tommy said, glaring across the room like Billy might pop out. “You’re all buddy-buddy with him these days.”

“He’s a cool guy,” Steve said slowly, leaning back in his chair. “I thought you guys were cool.”

“Just sayin’, everyone seems to think you found a new best friend.”

“Why are you so jealous?” Steve asked incredulously. He didn’t think he was going to get to read his magazine that period. He tried not to let it show how annoyed he was. “We meet new people a lot.”

Tommy shrugged, “was just asking a question.”

“Oh, that was a serious question. You’re seriously asking if Billy sucked my dick.” If he was in a better mood, his voice wouldn’t have gone so flat. He knew that Tommy could get territorial over his friends, it was just part of his personality. Normally Steve didn’t mind because Tommy and Carol were his go to people anyway. But he was dragging Billy into it.

It wasn’t that Steve was feeling protective of Billy. Just _annoyed_ that Tommy was bringing him up.

Tommy’s face twisted and Steve scoffed. “Carol isn’t going to fuck him. I know that’s what this is about,” Steve said lowly. “It’s not fun to hang out with you when you get like this.”

It was harsh to say it like that, but Steve was out of patience. Feeding into this mood would only encourage Tommy to keep annoying Steve until he actually got mean. Steve opened his magazine again, completely ready to move on from the conversation.

As an afterthought he added, “he’s just some guy, Tommy. Try actually talking to him instead of throwing a fit.”

 

It was a toss up how Tommy would react to Steve putting his foot down. Fortunately, there was a party that weekend where Billy beat Steve’s keg stand record, and Tommy was sold on him. Steve didn’t mind his record being beat, if only because there was something so much sharper in Billy’s smile when he looked at Steve afterwards.

It was fascinating.

 

On Monday, Steve was still nursing a hangover from that party, where he’d drank almost half the punch bowl and jumped on Billy’s back demanding piggyback rides. He remembered bits and pieces, a lot of them being impressed that Billy was able to carry him around without any trouble.

“Good morning, Steve,” a girl said the moment he walked into school. Nancy Wheeler, if Steve remembered correctly.

He smiled back, still rubbing his eyes too much to really look at her and the tall girl behind her. “Morning, Nancy,” he said in a sleepy voice. “Sorry, kinda got a headache.”

“Oh no,” Nancy looked genuinely sad to hear about his plight. Steve finally got a good look and she was staring up at him in concern, her eyes were big although not as blue as Billy’s. She was cute. In another life, Steve might have asked her out.

He didn’t have that kind of energy at the moment though. Laurie and Amy last year, and Becky over the summer hadn’t even been worth the trouble.

“I’ll be fine,” he took his hand off his face and waved it around. He didn’t get to say anything else though because Nichole practically crashed into him she was so eager to get to school with the news.

Apparently, some kid named Will Byers had gone missing.

That was rough. It was rougher still because Billy didn’t come to school that day and Steve couldn’t help but worry. And then on Tuesday, Steve didn’t believe the story he told about getting in a fight to explain away his black eye. But he didn’t ask questions.

There was a funeral for the Byers’ kid and then he came back. Steve was peripherally happy for the family. He noticed that the kid’s brother was hanging around Nancy and the tall girl whenever Nancy greeted Steve in the halls.

That was as far as his interest in that situation went.

 

Winter was cold, but it wasn’t until it started snowing that Steve realized Billy only had two jackets. One was denim, one was brown leather, and neither of them would keep him warm. He’d cajoled Billy after school, inviting him to visit his house during the start of winter break.

His parents hated the snow and preferred to spend winter abroad. Honestly, Steve had no idea why they even kept the house in Hawkins. But he knew he didn’t have to be miserable there. He would have company, and Billy wouldn’t have to go home. Steve didn’t ask questions, but he did formulate his own theory after his one and only meeting with Mr. Hargrove when he showed up to give Billy a ride to school.

“Come on, I’ll be bored!” He whined as he and Billy walked towards the parking lot.

Billy, who had become more and more mouthy, gave him a lazy smile. “Oh no, Harrington, am I the only person you know?”

“I’m looking to be less irritated,” Steve whined even harder. Tommy and Carol would probably come over, but something about Christmas time made them overly horny, and he didn’t feel like listening to their sex noises. “We can get eggnog.”

“I’m not drinking egg-jizz.”  

“Ugh,” now eggnog was ruined. “We can drink something else. Remember when my mom came home for Thanksgiving?” He draped his arm around Steve’s shoulders so he wouldn’t keep walking past Steve’s BMW. “Liquor cabinet is totally restocked.”

Billy paused, running his tongue over his top teeth. Steve knew he was tempted. He tried not to look too smug as Billy heaved a sigh. “Fine.”

He usually played hard to get when Steve demanded that he visit. As if Steve didn’t know perfectly well that Billy enjoyed hanging out as much as Steve did.

“Order pizza,” Billy demanded as he kicked his feet up on the dash.

“Oh totally, I’ll just do that with my car-phone,” Steve reached over and popped the tape out of the deck. “Yes, hello, Dominos?”

Billy shoved at his shoulder, and if the road wasn’t still a little icy, Steve would have jokingly swerved. “You’re a fuckin’ dork.”

“But you said to order pizza,” Steve said innocently.

Billy just pushed the tape back in and turned up the music. Steve didn’t like it that high, but it was fun to watch Billy bop to the music out of the corner of his eye.

 

Steve called in an order before he got into his mom’s stash. He picked out anything that looked like it might be Christimas-y, and carried his armful of bottles back to the living room. “There’s pop if you want a chaser.”

Billy never drank with a chaser, but Steve liked watching him wrinkle his nose at midwestern slang. “ _You_ use chasers, princess.”

Steve had started to arrange the bottles on the coffee table, but he blinked at the nickname. That brat honestly just called King Steve a princess. His instinct was to shut that shit down but before he could even find the words a laugh escaped him. It was short, but then it was followed by another, and another, until he was clutching his stomach.

Beside him, Billy didn’t look the slightest bit fazed by Steve’s outburst. He reached for a bottle of peppermint schnapps and eyed it with distaste before opening it.

“Share,” Steve sat up and made grabby hands at the bottle.

“Fuck off, get your own,” Billy leaned away, still drinking. Steve tried to snatch it away by the base but Billy moved too fast for him. He had the bottle behind his back with one hand, and the other was tightly gripping Steve’s wrist.

They were at a stand-off, facing each other with matching grins, and Steve knew that the first person to laugh would lose. He shouldn’t have been so excited, so giddy. Maybe Billy was acting weird in that secret way he did, where Steve couldn’t see it until he’d gone back to normal.

He tugged on his wrist but Billy squeezed tighter. Steve huffed, still smiling, still watching Billy with fascination. The daylight coming in through the blinds over the backdoor and windows caught Billy’s eyes and it made them look like cat eyes. He remembered the first time they drank together, the TV was playing a Wolf-Man movie.

“Fine,” Steve added an extra whine to his voice and leaned back. “Drink your schnapps, prom queen.”

“Damn right,” Billy released his wrist.

It was a little red, a little sore, but Steve didn’t think much on it as he started rooting around. Baileys wasn’t very alcoholic but Steve was partial to it. He sipped, grimacing at the room temperature taste and stood up. “I need ice.”

Billy made some kind of noise but Steve was skipping back to the kitchen. King Steve, skipping, practically acting like a jester for Billy.

He filled a glass with ice and was just putting back the tray when the doorbell rang. “Pizza!” he called.

“You think I got money!” Billy scoffed.

Steve rolled his eyes, although to be fair, the money for the pizza was in his pocket. He carried the glass of ice with him to answer the door.

An obnoxious chorus of the Island of Misfit Toys was blaring on the TV when Steve wandered back in. He flopped down on the couch, two pizza boxes balanced on one hand and his glass in the other.

“Why do you always have everything so loud?” he had to raise his voice over the music.

Billy was smirking at him, so Steve dropped the pizza on his lap and curled over it. “Turn it down and then you can eat.”

For a minute it seemed like Billy was going to wrestle him for the food. Steve stretched just a little more to put his glass on the floor, just in case. But then Billy rolled his eyes and turned the TV down until the movie was just a low background noise. Steve handed over one of the boxes and returned to his Baileys. Billy was even distracted enough that Steve stole the schnapps and added it to his glass as well.

Billy made a noise of disgusted around his pizza slice. “That’s gonna taste like shit.”

As if they drank for the taste. Steve downed the glass and didn’t give Billy the satisfaction of wincing at what was indeed a strong taste. It hit him hard, spreading from his stomach warm and fuzzy, and that made Steve ready for pizza.

He poured another drink and stole a slice from Billy’s open box.

“Fucker,” Billy muttered.

“I paid for it.”

Billy turned his head and glared at him. They were in almost identical poses, leaning back into the couch, only their heads turned. It was still light out, but inside seemed so comfortable.

Steve was sure that falling asleep after one drink would only make him look like a bitch. He blew a breath out through his lips and nudged his pizza box off his lap and onto the couch. He needed caffeine.

Steve wandered into the kitchen, he’d stuck a few pops in the fridge the other day, they would be good enough. He pulled one out and turned to check in case Billy wanted one after all.

He flinched back against the fridge when he saw that Billy had followed him into the kitchen. “Shit,” he said, laughing breathlessly. “You’re so damn loud. Since when can you sneak?”

Billy didn’t answer. Bill just kept staring at him.

It didn’t bother Steve because it meant that he could stare right back. His face relaxed out of the wide grin, but he could feel that his lips were still turned up. The quiet moments were nice, even if this one was undercut with cold from the fridge and noise from the TV.

Every time they drank alone they stared at each other. In his sober moments, he wondered if it wasn’t Billy trying to size him up. But nothing ever came of it except Steve feeling more and more comfortable with him.

But then Steve realized Billy wasn’t smiling too. He stepped out of the fridge so the door could swing shut, and he set his coke on the counter.

“Billy,” he whispered, tilting his head to the side. He wasn’t sure why he was whispering. “Are we drunk?” He didn’t feel drunk, even if he felt happy.  

“Yeah,” Billy was moving. One second he was against the counter, the next he was close to Steve. And then Steve’s back was against the fridge.

Steve didn’t try to correct him. Instead, he stared at the way the light hit the sheen of Billy’s bottom lip. He licked his lips a lot, it was amazing that they weren’t chapped in the winter.

Billy kept moving, but there was nowhere for Steve to go. He could feel Billy’s breath against his face, smell the mint and alcohol.

There was a sudden aching fear in Steve’s stomach that Billy would step away, as if he hadn’t been the one to move so suddenly into Steve’s space. Slowly, so Billy could see him, Steve raised his hands and rested them on Billy’s shoulders.

He was only wearing a thin white shirt, having shucked his jacket while they were sitting on the couch. His skin was hot and the muscle under Steve’s hands was solid. Steve opened his mouth, thinking that there was a right thing to say in that moment. But he couldn’t think of it.

Billy’s eyelashes fluttered, they were so pretty, and he leaned even closer. Steve felt Billy’s tongue running along his bottom lip before dipping inside.

Steve had kissed plenty of girls to know what a kiss felt like. What Billy was doing to his mouth was wet and filthy, and it had Steve clutching onto him. They weren’t drunk enough to do something like this.

Steve was a straight guy, had been with girls, never looked at another guy before. He tangled his hands into Billy’s hair, terrified for a reason he couldn’t name. As long as Billy’s mouth was pressed to his, as long as they licked and bit and touched, nothing else had to matter.

He’d been right about Billy’s lips. They were a perfect shape and felt so good, and the way his stubble scratched against Steve’s face made him feel alive. Everything was electric and heated, it was overwhelming.

Billy groaned against Steve’s mouth and twisted away. It was everything Steve had feared. He felt Billy panting against his ear, felt a very obvious erection pressed firmly against him, was almost consumed by the instinct to pull Billy’s lips back to him.

Steve didn’t want to think.

He wondered if his fear was evident when Billy finally leaned back and looked at him. His eyes ran all over Steve’s face before they dropped to the side. His hands, which had wandered up under Steve’s shirt at some point, pulled away and he reached out for something.

Steve blinked. Billy opened the coke and took a long drink of it. Then he grinned at Steve and broke away, returning to the couch.

It felt like the buzz was completely gone. Steve didn’t want to think.

“That was my pop!” He complained, quickly reaching into the fridge to grab another.

“It’s called soda, you hick!”

 

They watched TV for longer, and then Billy called his dad because the snow had started falling and the news advised people not to drive. Winter break was filled with more parties, buying Billy an actual winter coat, and a lonely Christmas morning with reprieve only coming in the afternoon when Billy called and demanded a ride somewhere. (Anywhere.)

(Steve didn’t ask questions.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not proofread, I'm not a good person like that.

The old year ended and the new year began with Steve feeling the absence of Billy keenly. He still saw him from time to time, but it paled in comparison to getting to see Billy almost every day at school. He saw Tommy and Carol more often, who had lots of stories about their respective family vacations. It was far from the same.

Steve laid in his bed one night, staring up at the ceiling as he idly stroked himself through his sweatpants. It had been almost four weeks since Billy thoroughly licked his mouth.

It had been a boring, lazy day, but it still hadn’t left Steve with enough energy to consider everything that came with a boy kissing him. Steve didn’t want to think about it. But remembering didn’t really count as thinking about it. He remembered how it felt to have Billy’s hands on him. How fascinating the scratch of Billy’s enviable stubble felt, and the way his lips and tongue melted Steve completely. It was cathartic to be pinned to fridge. Steve didn’t think about why.

The phone in the kitchen started ringing. Steve used to ignore it. But some days, Billy would get enough space to call him. 

Steve was looking down at rise in his sweats as he answered the phone. “Harrington residence,” he said in a bored tone. 

“Hey princess,” Billy’s voice had deepened even more over winter break. “Up for some company?” 

Steve smiled, leaning against the counter. “Yeah. Want me to come get you?” 

“I’ll be on the corner of Randolph.” Billy hung up before Steve responded. 

There had been calls like that before. Only a couple, but Steve knew what they meant. There would be bruises that Steve wouldn’t ask about, and Billy would be in a sour mood. He was a little disappointed. It was harder to be around Billy when he was angry like that, but Steve still wanted to see him. He didn’t bother to change out of his sleeping clothes when he grabbed his keys. It hadn’t started snowing yet, but it was cold enough to make Steve go soft, so he drove a little faster than normal to pick Billy up. 

It wasn’t a far drive, but Steve still couldn’t help the twinge of guilt when he saw the bright cherry of Billy’s cigarette waiting for him. 

He pulled up to the sidewalk and rolled down his window. “Hargrove,” he said, doing his best Billy imitation. “Goin’ my way?” 

“Funny,” Billy flicked his half-smoked cigarette away and strolled to the other side of the car. 

Steve turned up the heater as Billy got in, then he started driving. It was dark out, and there weren’t any street lamps until Loch Nora, so he couldn’t see Billy’s face. But Steve could read the charged silence, so he turned on the radio to something Billy generally liked. 

The porch light was one when he pulled up, and when Steve parked he didn’t see any fresh marks on Billy’s face, but did notice a little blood at the corner of his mouth.

Steve opened the door and immediately started up the stairs. “I’ll get you some sweats.” 

Billy slammed the front door shut. 

It startled Steve, but he kept going. He’d done laundry only a few days ago, and he had a pair of pajamas that would fit Billy’s thicker thighs. He’d been getting decently thicker everywhere, straining his already tight clothes and driving the entire female population of Hawkins crazy. 

When Billy wasn’t in a bad mood, Steve would enjoy how small he could feel with Billy. Even when they stood at the same height, Billy had a way of making Steve feel _petite_. 

“Harrington!” Billy stomped up the stairs after him and Steve sighed. Billy had gotten so good at using his name; he only said Harrington on bad days. 

“I’m in here,” Steve said uselessly. His bedroom door was open and his light was on. He dug through his drawers for the pants and offered them to Billy. But he stayed in the doorway, shoulders tense. Steve slowly lowered his hand, “what’s wrong?” 

Billy smiled. Steve had seen that sort of smile before when Tommy had gone too far. Billy had only gotten one punch in before Steve and Carol got between them, but it had been a punch to the gut so strong that Tommy collapsed and nearly threw up. “Just wondering where you disappeared to.” 

His voice was so sing-song when he was angry. 

It was unnerving. But Steve was the king. 

“Just looking for these,” he tossed the pants to Billy instead of moving closer. “You can shower if you want.” 

Billy dropped the pants and stalked forward. Every survival instinct Steve had told him to step back but he stood his ground and held up his hand. Billy’s chest pressed against his palm and Steve couldn’t help his reaction. 

His fingers closed around Billy’s shirt, and his brow wrinkled in distress. “You’re cold,” he said unthinkingly. Why was Billy so cold if he’d only been waiting for the ten minutes or so it took for Steve pick him up. Hadn’t he just called from his house? 

“Doesn’t matter,” Bill spat, his sharp smile melting into something hateful. “If I died, or disappeared, it wouldn’t matter to you.” 

Steve’s eyes burned, and he hated it because that meant he was about to cry, and Carol told him he had an ugly crying face. “Billy,” his voice broke and his face crumpled. “Fuck, Billy.” 

He threw his arms around Billy’s shoulders. If Billy was trying to fight, he was out of luck. Steve’s chest ached too much to be angry. 

“Fuck you,” Billy growled without fighting the embrace. 

Steve knew it was Billy’s dad. Billy was a cool person, beautiful, weirdly protective of Steve except when he was lashing out. He shouldn’t be showing up to Steve’s house with the remnants of a blood on his mouth. Steve didn’t ask questions, but he was fine with making an assumption. 

“I hate your fucking dad,” he said, squeezing Billy close. “I hate him.” 

Billy tensed, and it seemed like he was about to hit Steve. Instead he wrapped his arms around Steve’s ribs. 

Steve shifted, pushing his forehead against Billy’s. He probably looked like a splotchy mess, but Billy had such pretty face; he was flushed, tears in his eyes and wetting his eyelashes, but not falling. Steve kissed his cheek just as Billy blinked. The tears fell and it made him look even prettier. 

“I’m gonna change,” Billy said quietly. It took Steve a second to register that he was going to put on the pajama pants. 

“I’ll make hot chocolate.” Steve sighed when Billy kissed his cheek, all the tension that had been settling in his body evaporated. “I think there’s cookies too.” 

Billy was pressing kisses to his jaw and then to the side of his neck. 

“Billy?” Steve stared toward the open doorway as Billy’s kisses became wetter and more toothy. It felt good, but it felt guilty too, because Billy had just been so upset. He shivered when Billy’s cold hands slid up the back of his shirt. 

“Warm me up,” Billy said against his ear. 

Steve’s earlier arousal was still simmering beneath the surface, so he happily let go of his frustration. Billy took Steve’s hand and pressed it to the front of his jeans. They hadn’t touched like that before. 

Steve bit his lip as he rubbed the bulge in Billy’s jeans, carefully following the outline and shivering when he felt Billy throb. 

“Good,” Billy sighed, licking and biting like he didn’t care about leaving marks. Steve should have cared, but he didn’t. Even if he wasn’t being touched, making Billy feel good was strangely more than enough. 

Except it wasn’t. 

Steve pulled his hand back and Billy bit down hard. “Billy,” Steve admonished, although he didn’t pause in pulling open Billy’s belt. He wanted skin contact too much to stop. 

“Don’t stop, babe,” Billy rasped in his ear. Steve laughed breathlessly, he was doing the furthest thing from stopping. 

He opened Billy’s jeans, noticing that he wasn’t wearing any underwear. Just as well, because Steve’s mouth was watering and he was too busy to even feel self conscious. He sank lower and lower, Billy’s grip on him lessening to let him move. 

“Don’t really know how,” Steve murmured, testing the weight of Billy’s cock in his hand. He looked up, Billy was staring down at him with pupils so wide that his eyes were almost black. It made Steve feel eager, giddy.  

“I want to make you feel good,” he whispered, leaning closer so his breath would ghost over Billy’s head.  

“You always make me feel good,” Billy growled as he tangled his fingers in Steve’s hair. He sounded frustrated by the fact, but maybe it was because Steve was taking his time to admire Billy. From his pretty cock up to his pretty eyes, he was easily the most incredible looking person Steve had ever beheld. 

He didn’t think about why. He simply opened his mouth and enthusiastically licked at the head. Billy made a guttural sound and his hips bucked. Steve had to lean back, distantly afraid of his own teeth. “Careful,” he said, running his lips along the shaft. “I’m new at this.” 

“Doin’ great,” Billy muttered, combing his fingers through Steve’s hair. “Look fuckin’ great too.” 

If Steve wasn’t trying to focus on tonguing the underside of Billy’s cock, he would have laughed. Getting a blowjob, and suddenly he was absolutely full of compliments. That would be good for both of them considering how excited Steve was getting from being on his knees in front of Billy. 

He had never thought about liking the look of a penis, especially considering he only interacted with his own. But without putting any thought into it, Steve enjoyed how Billy’s hard cock, sticking out of his open jeans, looked. 

Steve reached into his own pants, rubbing himself idly. He was harder than he even realized. 

“Jesus Christ.” 

Steve raised his eyes and looked up at Billy. He’d been growing lately, so much thicker that it made Steve feel almost petite sometimes. The way he was smiling down at Steve wasn’t the bratty look he’d been maturing out of, it was a dangerous, heated thing that reminded Steve of the warmth in his stomach every time Billy called him ‘princess’. 

“Are you getting off on this?” Billy ran his thumb along Steve’s stretched lips. 

Steve was getting off on it. In fact, he thought he might be closer to coming than Billy. The light caught Billy’s eyes when he started to move his hips again. The movement was more controlled, never pushing deeper than Steve could take while he moaned helplessly. 

It was like the first time he found a porno mag, so fast to get off on the stimulation he never had before. The way Billy controlled him, took what he wanted, the way he said such sweet things in his gravelly voice was more than enough. Steve pulled back, dropping his forehead against Billy’s thigh as he came into his own hand with a choked off sound. 

“Fuck,” Billy barely gave him a moment before he was yanking Steve’s head back. He was jerking off roughly, his cock smearing precum against Steve’s bottom lip. “How, how are you that perfect?” 

“Billy,” Steve whined, and he brought his messy hand up to guide his cock back into his mouth. It was a near thing, but Steve didn’t spit when Billy filled his mouth. He caught it, swallowed it, and then accepted Billy’s hard, satisfied kisses. 

They didn’t talk about what they did afterwards, they didn’t talk about Billy’s dad or why Billy had been thrown out of the house. They got cleaned up and watched TV with the shared understanding that Billy would be staying the night. 

 

Billy was running out of Golden Bats and he seemed annoyed about it. He smoked other brands, usually whatever he’d steal from Steve or Tommy, but there was a careful, possessive air about him when he smoked his own cigarettes. 

Steve wondered how he might get his hands on more. The shop that took his fake ID didn’t carry the brand, so he wasn’t sure where to start besides roadtripping west until he found them. It would probably be a pleasant and surprising gift for Billy, since his birthday was in April. 

They were all back in the cafeteria once school started again because of the cold weather, so Billy wouldn’t be smoking at lunch for a while anyway. Steve made sure to bring extra snacks to shove at him. 

It was a simple way to get a little extra attention, since Billy had withdrawn since That Night. They’d still hung out several times over winter break, but Billy was back to staring, never making a move and getting visibly colder if Steve tried to bridge the gap. 

Maybe if Steve found a carton of Billy’s brand somewhere, he would be rewarded with a kiss. 

Steve was listening to a story that Tommy was telling when he sneakily grabbed Billy’s coke and took a drink. He would get an indirect kiss if nothing else. 

“Seriously, Harrington?” Billy’s voice was low but easily cut through Tommy’s. 

“Thirsty,” Steve said with a loud slurp. 

 

Their stalemate lasted until the end of January. Steve, for all that he continued playing his part, grew more and more sullen as time went. He had never chased a girl before; when someone caught his eye, he found that not giving her any attention at all did the trick. 

But he couldn’t keep his attention off Billy. Even if Steve decided he would withhold, would talk more to Tommy, flirt with Nichole, gossip with Carol, he would fold the moment Billy strolled up to his side at the start of the day. 

It led to worse behavior from Tommy. Steve would often try to pal around with him instead of Billy, only to be drawn away like Billy had a magnet in his pocket. 

Hence the five of them in the parking lot after school; Tommy glaring at Billy, Billy not giving a shit per usual, Nichole twirling her hair and looking like she couldn’t decide if she’d rather stare at Billy or Steve, and Steve, close enough to Billy to feel his body heat, listening to Carol. 

“Ten!” She exclaimed, leaning on Tommy’s arm. “Just while I was trying to get out of last period.” 

Carol had long been the point of contact for girls looking to get King Steve’s attention. Since Billy showed up, she only had more people coming up to her. Naturally, she thrived under that sort of importance. 

“Did you even keep track of who you talked to?” Steve asked, always genuinely amused to the weird things Carol got excited about. 

“I wrote it down,” Carol popped her gum. “Want your list?” 

Steve shook his head. The only reason to go with a girl on Valentine’s Day was to get laid, and for reasons Steve wasn’t even going to start to explore, he didn’t want to find a girl to sleep with. “Learned my lesson after Laurie.” 

Carol nodded sagely. “What about you, Billy?” 

There were times when Steve’s refusal to think about certain things caught up with him. The same way his mother’s blind eye to his father’s affairs until they blew up spectacularly with a pregnancy scare. He never considered how the weird thing with Billy would work outside of their encounters in his house until someone wanted to be Billy’s valentine. 

His stomach dropped so abruptly that Steve had to fight not to sway. 

“I didn’t even do that shit with Cali girls,” Billy scoffed, taking a drag from one of Tommy’s stolen smokes. The insult to the non-Cali girls that surround Billy was picked up by all. 

“You’re both so boring!” Carol pouted, tugging on Tommy’s arm. “Stop laughing, Tommy!” 

“I’m not!” Tommy had laughed. Billy had a way of wrinkling his nose when he was being a dick, and it was a pretty funny expression. Steve leaned across Billy to nudge Tommy conspiratorially. 

With Tommy and Carol trading moods, Steve tossed his butt away and straightened up. “I’m taking off,” he said, turning to Billy. “Want a ride home?” 

Billy shrugged and moved around to the passenger door. 

Steve smiled and offered his goodbyes to Tommy, Carol, and Nichole. 

As they pulled out of the parking lot, Steve glanced over at Billy, trying to gauge his mood. Steve was feeling great, honestly. No valentine for him, and no valentine for Billy. The relief was almost like a high. “Wanna come over?” 

“Yeah.” 

Steve tried not to get excited. 

He got excited. He always did when Billy came over to exist with him in a space where nothing mattered. 

He got excited when Billy wandered inside, obviously so used to being at Steve’s house. Wandering off toward the liquor cabinet a familiarity that no one else had. 

Billy re-emerged with a half empty bottle of vodka and snorted when he saw Steve pouring a glass of apple juice. “You still need a chaser, princess?” 

“You know,” Steve drawled, sitting next to Billy on the couch. “Some people consider it a sign of maturity to drink for the taste instead of getting wasted.” 

The look Billy gave him was a clear indicator that he was not one of those people. But whatever, Steve was seven months older than him and knew better. So he rolled his eyes at Billy and turned on the TV. 

“Want me to order some pizza?” he asked as they passed the bottle back and forth. The vodka tasted terrible with the apple juice.  

“I’m not hungry.” 

Steve wasn’t sure he believed that, considering Billy’s lunch had been a pop and a candy bar. But he accepted the answer and finished off his apple juice. When he reached for the vodka, but Billy was already replacing the cap. 

He set it on the ground and turned to stare at Steve. It was a familiar look, though Steve hadn’t seen it in weeks. He didn’t realize how afraid he was that he wouldn’t see it again until the band around his chest loosened. 

Impatience moved Steve, pushing him to lean in for a kiss that he definitely hadn’t been thinking about for over a month. 

The moment their lips touched, Billy snarled, smelling heavily of the vodka. Steve worried that he’d misread Billy, but then he was shoved back and pinned on the couch. Billy’s mouth, Billy’s hands, Billy’s heavy body were all on him, devouring Steve and pushing him into the cushions. 

If Steve could have gotten the air, he might have sobbed against Billy’s lips. His whole body thrummed with a hunger, a craving that Billy had left behind on That Night. He wrapped his arms around Billy, lifting his hips so they could awkwardly rub against each other.

They were both wearing jeans, and it interrupted almost any stimulation Steve might have gotten. He pushed at Billy’s shoulders, having to turn his face away because Billy bit his lips. 

“Move, you jerk,” Steve muttered, shifting and opening his legs with one thrown over the back of the couch. 

Billy smiled his hot, lewd smile and practically collapsed on top of Steve again. “You’re a fuckin’ genius,” he purred. 

Steve agreed, because what came next was Billy mouthing at his neck and rutting between his legs. Steve’s head was turned to the side to allow more space for Billy. He was going to be covered in marks, he knew it. Fortunately, his reputation would mean he wouldn’t get too many questions. 

Billy’s hand ran up the bottom of Steve’s thigh before groping his ass. There was intent there, Steve had slept with enough girls to recognize the sexual electricity when Billy’s hand squeezed like he could reach through the denim. 

It felt good, it felt like exactly what he wanted. Steve stared blankly at the TV, a commercial for The Gap. He whispered Billy’s name, scratching his nails over Billy’s white henley. He could feel the muscles on Billy’s back, could feel how he shifted when he ground between Steve’s legs. He wanted so badly. 

The phone rang, loud and shrill, startling them apart. One moment Billy was trying to fuck him through their clothes, the next he was on the other side of the couch. They stared at each other until the phone rang again, and then they looked toward the kitchen. 

“You should get that,” Billy said, sounding distant and looking annoyed. 

The third ring made Steve flinch again. Why did it sound so loud all of a sudden? He ran to the kitchen, hoping to catch it before the fourth ring. 

The cord was long, but when Steve answered, Billy had already turned to the TV. Steve stayed in the kitchen, greeting his dad. It could have all been said on a voicemail honestly. 

No questions about Steve, school, even the weather. Only a rundown of things that Steve had expected: His parents were extended their stay in Venice by several more days, but they’d be back before the end of the month. No parties. No girls over. 

Steve hung up. It was already the end of January, so his parents wouldn’t be back until the end of February.  

He stared down at the phone, wondering if he was disappointed or just tired. They were never around, he expected that, but he supposed every time he wasn’t surprised it sucked. Especially considering his moment with Billy had been interrupted. 

When he returned to the couch, Billy wasn’t even hard anymore. That was disappointing, but at least he hadn’t decided to leave. He watched the screen, barely paying attention to the shitty after school special that was almost too quiet to hear. 

Slowly, because abrupt movements were uncomfortable for both of them, Steve rested his head on Billy’s shoulder. No more electricity, just Steve wanting so bad to feel close because everyone else was so far away. 

Billy stiffened, as if it was the first moment of intimacy between them. Steve expected to be shoved away, but after an excruciating minute, Billy draped his arm over Steve’s shoulders.

 

Despite how successful the evening was, Billy turned two of Steve’s invitations in the following week. It found Steve in a very sour mood at school. He carried on as normal as he could, every inch the King that anyone would expect.

After school, when Billy brushed him off, not even accepting a ride home, Steve would go home alone. 

Alone and miserable. 

Mostly, he stayed in and ate cereal out of the box in front of the TV. On day three, Steve decided to find something else to eat, since he was starting to get bloated from all the cornflakes. 

He made it as far as the parking lot of Benny’s diner before he spotted familiar golden hair. It was only a flash, seeing Billy setting a plate down in front of a customer before Steve threw his car into reverse and left. 

In Hawkins, most teenagers were either rich or poor, without a lot of room in between. Most of the rich kids didn’t bother working, Steve included. But most of the poor kids had to work out of necessity. 

Steve wouldn’t begrudge someone that, but there were plenty of assholes who’d give someone shit. Honestly, Steve sometimes forgot what it meant that Billy lived on Old Cherry Road because Billy fit in so well with Steve’s friends. When he didn’t fit in, it was because he seemed so much better. 

So Billy had a job, and didn’t tell Steve about it. That was fine. Steve was smart enough not to ask Billy about it at school on Friday. 

 

Steve didn’t ask Billy to come over that weekend. Billy was probably working to get spending money, probably decided to take a girl out after all. Valentine’s Day was falling on a Tuesday, so most dates were scheduled for that weekend or next. Maybe he planned it all along and didn’t want to tell a gossip like Carol. 

His spiraling thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, followed immediately by loud knocking. Steve groaned loudly, only his friends knocked like assholes. Someone was going to die for bothering Steve while he was moping around, still wearing his pajamas in the middle of the afternoon. 

“Billy,” Steve said with genuine surprise. Billy hadn’t visited without getting a ride from Steve. There was a little fresh snow on the ground with a clear set of fresh tracks leading up to his guest. “Come in,” he moved to the side. “I would have picked you up.” 

Billy shrugged like he didn’t care. But Steve knew he was counting the days to getting his learner’s permit. 

Steve shut the door and fretted around Billy’s wet boots. “Are those waterproof? I know that damn jacket isn’t. You didn’t walk the whole way, did you?” 

“Goddamn, princess,” Billy grabbed the front of Steve’s sleep shirt and gave him a little shake. “I’m fine. Calm down for a second.” 

Steve pouted down at the hand on his shirt. Falling silent was the right move though, because Billy did lean in and press a kiss to his cheek. 

“I brought something,” Billy reached into his old brown messenger bag and produced a copy of All The Right Moves.  

Steve blinked at it. He remembered seeing it in theater. “Carol says I look like Tom Cruise.” 

“Tom Cruise looks like a rat,” Billy said blandly with his usual disdain of everything. “You look like a chinchilla.” 

“Hey!” Steve wasn’t entirely sure what a chinchilla looked like, but considering Billy said it, he went for mildly offended. 

Billy started kicking off his boots. “Order a pizza. I got paid today, so it’s on me.” 

Steve obeyed out of habit, even though he was puzzled. Billy never offered to pay, not that Steve often gave him the chance. He knew the local Domino’s phone number by heart, and they almost never even needed to ask for his address anymore. “What do you want on it?” 

“Get whatever you want.” 

Billy was never that little of a brat. Steve set the phone down and marched into the living room where Billy was setting up the movie. “Are you dying?” 

Billy gave him the bordest look. “What?” 

Steve put his hands on his hips.

They stared at each other in a stalemate. The blue screen lit up Billy’s face, but reflected starkly on his eyes, making them look dark but for the gleam from the screen. Steve almost lost track of his suspicion because it was so interesting to stare at. 

But then Billy heaved a sigh, glaring up at Steve so effectively that Steve almost apologize.

“Valentine’s Day is stupid.” 

Steve’s heart sped up. “So,” he said faintly, feeling incredibly warm. “Lunch and a movie?” 

Was it possible that Billy had been working at Benny’s to pay for this? Steve wondered how long he worked and how much he’d saved. “You buy that for me as a gift?” He asked, looking at the screen where the tape started playing. 

Billy snorted, “I stole this. The pizza is your gift.”

“Oh shit, I need to,” Steve gestured toward the kitchen before he ran back to make the call. He kept to one large pizza with two toppings so he wouldn’t spend all of Billy’s money. 

Then they were relaxing on the couch. It was nice. It was one of the nicest afternoons of his life. Especially when Billy wrapped an arm around his shoulders and guided him to lay his head on Billy’s shoulder. 

They weren’t drunk enough to brush off the physical contact. They hadn’t been drunk enough since the first time, if even that. There was something happening between them that Steve couldn’t bring himself to think or ask about. He was afraid that if he did, the spell would break. 

So he said, “this is nice.” 

 

School after Valentine’s Day became far more bearable. Billy had warmed up again since he wasn’t working extra shifts, and had even started accepting rides to his shifts after demanding the first one. 

“I’m not driving you around forever,” Steve had warned jokingly. 

“Got my eye on a new ride,” Billy had said with big grin. “I’ll have it by summer.” 

Steve had been happy for Billy, but sad for himself. Driving might get lonely without Billy. 

 

It was nearing the end of February, and they were skipping an assembly. Normally, they wouldn’t, but Billy told Steve that he didn’t give a flying fuck about school spirit. So Steve followed Billy to the library, and Tommy and Carol followed Steve. 

It was going to be annoying when his parents came home. Steve used to look forward to feeling like he had a family. But his mom was an alcoholic and his dad was a grade A asshole, and it only got more and more evident that they had very little room in their life for a son. 

Plus, their presence meant Steve couldn’t have friends over; couldn’t have Billy over. 

“You got any food?” Billy asked, leaning in close as they reclined against the bookshelf. 

Steve hummed and dug around in the deep pockets of his jacket. It paid to keep food stashed in his pockets in case Billy got peckish. Steve produced a baggy of goldfish crackers and Billy snatched them up. 

“I’m hungry too,” Tommy stated. 

“I have gum,” Carol offered. She was a good girlfriend, Steve thought, even if she and Tommy could be annoying when they poked at each other. 

“Only had the crackers,” Steve gestured to the bag in Billy’s hands. Billy curled around the bag, glaring and practically daring Tommy to try and take some. “You can have my pudding cup at lunch if you want.” 

Tommy relaxed against Carol, accepting a piece of Juicy Fruit. Steve nudged him with his foot, “did you ever find out about extra credit for Martin’s class?” 

“Nope,” Carol popped her p. “He’s still coasting on Spanish bringing his GPA up.” 

“At least I have something to bring my GPA up,” Tommy tickled her side and she squirmed, trying to fight but only ending up sprawled in his lap. It weirdly made Steve feel very aware that he could feel Billy’s arm pressed against his. “You and Stevie are screwed.” 

“Don’t remind me,” Steve groaned. He did his best, but some things just gave him trouble. 

“You could try getting a tutor,” Billy said, crumpling the now empty bag in his fist. 

Steve glanced at him; Billy didn’t have the best grades in the school but Steve had watched him do homework enough to gather it was more lack of effort than lack of ability. Was he offering? 

“Oooh, I know!” Carol smirked, looking just a little bit mean. “You could ask Princess Wheeler for help. She’s only been sniffing after you forever.” 

Nancy Wheeler had always seemed nice enough, might have even been his type a year ago. Steve wrinkled his nose, “I thought she was with that Byers guy.” 

“Not what I heard.” 

“I heard she was lezzing with the other girl,” Tommy held his hands up, making his fingers into makeshift glasses. “Whatsername, you know, Broccoli?” 

“Barbara,” Billy provided. “They’re in my English class.” 

“Right, you’re in AP,” Steve latched onto the change of subject. Tommy and Carol got meaner than he liked, but he’d joined in one too many times for it to not be hypocritical to tell them to stop. “Wanna take a look at my essay?” 

“I will for five bucks.” 

“Oh right, he’s a smart kid,” Tommy lurched, jostling Carol but not entirely pushing her away. “Hey Billy, how much to do my math homework?” 

“All of it,” Billy leaned forward too, looking very serious. “All of your money.” 

Steve was pretty sure Billy wasn’t joking, but he joined the rest of them in laughing. He felt a little bit lighter anyway. Tutoring would be a great excuse to keep his parents from bitching him out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I crave instant gratification too much to proofread

Steve’s graded math test was on the table with a B- written in red pen at the top. Billy had Steve pinned on the table next to it. Steve had kept it hidden in his backpack until they made it back to his house, since he’d been expecting this exact sort of attention.   

“Proud of you,” Billy said, panting against Steve’s mouth every time he pulled back to offer praise. He cut off Steve’s response with another biting kiss. 

This had been Steve’s reality since the grades started coming out. Back when Steve had tried to distract Billy during their study time, Billy had made all sorts of promises if Steve focused. 

“S’cause you’re smart,” Steve said, tilting his head back for Billy’s teeth. Rumors had been starting up that he had a secret girlfriend because of how much Billy liked to mark him. 

“Nope, all you.” Billy bit down hard causing Steve to shiver. He was already smiling when he pulled back, but it grew when Steve’s legs trapped him from leaving entirely. “You’re so damn desperate you’ll even study.” 

“ _You’ll_ study,” Steve tugged on Billy’s shirt, pulling a couple more buttons free and revealing bare chest. He marveled at how sculpted Billy was getting lately, marveled that he was allowed to touch. 

“Masterful.” Billy finished pushing his shirt off and covered Steve again. “Fuck, why are you so pretty.” 

Steve smiled so hard his cheeks hurt. “You’re prettier,” he ran his hands up Billy’s back. His skin was so smooth but the muscles underneath were so hard; Steve’s eyes drifted shut. “So hot.” 

Billy laughed, it was low and reverberated through Steve’s chest. 

It was addictive. 

 

Steve wasn’t good at moderating himself when he really enjoyed something. Currently, he was enjoying Billy more than he’d ever enjoyed anyone else, and he was being very obvious about it. 

They were eating lunch in the cafeteria, crowded on all sides so that Steve could believably press up against Billy’s side. Tommy and Carol sat across from him, talking about their plans for Spring Break. 

On good days, Tommy and Carol had very chaotic energy when they spent too much time together, like a music box that would get twisted and twisted until the tune came out fast and distorted. Spring Break was second only to Summer for their shenanigans to _unwind_.

Steve was listening to Carol’s plans, which include a stuffed rabbit, an electric toothbrush, and sneaking into the police station, when he noticed Tommy wasn’t as invested in the conversation. 

The warm line of Billy’s body against his side was suddenly uncomfortable. Steve shifted, but didn’t pull away in case that drew more attention to their proximity. Tommy looked between the two of them rapidly, glaring mostly at the point of contact between Steve and Billy’s hands. 

“Hey man,” Steve said; Carol took his interruption in stride, turning most of her attention to Billy. It wasn’t often he looked genuinely interested in something she said, so Carol was probably basking in the positive attention. Steve moved his hand away from Billy to grab a box of Milk Duds he’d dropped on the table. “Candy?” 

“Nah,” Tommy looked at the box sullenly. 

Steve waited for Tommy to comment like he did before in the library. But either he wasn’t that upset, or he’d learned his lesson about mouthing off in front of Billy. 

Tommy kept his mouth shut, but he broadcasted his shitty mood for the next two days. Although Steve got the brunt of it, since Billy was still looking over their assignments with midterms coming up, they needed all the help they could get. 

“You’re our token smart friend,” Carol said as she handed over a five dollar bill and a Three Musketeers bar. “You’d be a nerd if you weren’t so hot.” 

“You’d be a genius if you weren’t so dumb,” Billy snorted. 

Carol laughed, though Steve was certain it was so she could lean against his arm. “I’m not dumb, right Tommy?” 

Tommy shrugged, staring down at his graded English paper. It was probably his first A on an English assignment in years. 

“You’re smart in other ways,” Steve interjected. Tommy throwing a fit was an ordeal, but Tommy and Carol fighting drained him way too much. “Without you, my hair would be slightly less perfect.” 

“That’s true,” Carol hummed proudly. “I did perfect your hair.” 

“Harrington!” Billy snapped his fingers in front of Steve’s face before holding his palm out. “Pay up.” 

It should not have been so endearing that Billy was charging them for good grades, but Steve couldn’t help his adoring smile when he handed over a bag of chips. He got to pay less since he was sticking his hand down Billy’s pants on the regular. They had to stop hanging out at Steve’s once his parents came home at the end of February. 

 

Between Tommy moping and Tommy being clingy, getting alone time at school was out of the question. 

“Wanna drive?” Steve asked after Billy climbed into the car. 

“Really?” Billy grinned, big and beautiful. Steve helplessly climbed out of the driver’s seat to make room. Billy was going to need the practice since his birthday was only a couple weeks away and Neil was being an asshole about letting Billy practice with the truck. 

Then Steve had a heart attack. 

“This isn’t Mad Max!” Steve yelled, clutching at his seatbelt as Billy tore off down the country road. “Billy, I swear to God!”  

Billy laughed way louder than necessary than necessary at his terror. 

Fortunately, Billy managed not to kill them both while driving like a maniac. Steve was seriously starting to doubt he was going to be getting that license. 

“That was ridiculous,” Steve whined as they parked down by the water. He rolled down the window and leaned his arms on the sill. “I’m going to be driving you around for the rest of our lives.” 

“Don’t be a bitch.” Billy rolled down his window and lit up a cigarette. It wasn’t one of his Golden Bats. “C’mere.” 

After the time in Steve’s bedroom, they’d mostly stuck to handjobs. Billy seemed to favor sinking his teeth into Steve’s neck or shoulder while Steve jerked him off. He’d showed a willingness to reciprocate, but Steve found himself shy in a way he’d never been before. 

If Steve spent much time thinking about it, he would admit that he was scared that Billy liked getting off, but didn’t like boys. But Steve wasn’t thinking about it. 

They got close during the second mouth-to-cock encounter. Billy had complained that Steve owed him for some assignment or another, probably more interested in the Twizzlers Steve was hoarding. But he’d looked so good, his mouth red from the candy he’d managed to steal already, that Steve slid to his knees on the kitchen floor. 

After filling his mouth, Billy had reached for him and Steve deflected by shoving the Twizzlers at him and running off to the bathroom. 

Maybe Billy bought the excuse that he needed to pee, maybe not. 

“Jesus, you like driving that much?” Steve asked dryly, letting himself be led by the hand Billy curled around the back of his neck. 

He leaned over, obediently opening Billy’s jeans. He was obnoxiously hard and nearly poked Steve’s face. 

“Love making you scream,” Billy said around his cigarette. 

Fuck if the image of Billy casually smoking while Steve sucked him off didn’t do it for him. 

Steve made sure to get himself off before Billy grabbed him by the hair and shoved his face down. Steve had a McDonalds napkin ready. It was better than having to soak his pants overnight and before scrubbing them with a brush. 

“You don’t have to swallow,” Billy said roughly as Steve lovingly tucked him away. 

“I like to.” It wasn’t his favorite, but he loved how much Billy seemed to like it. Some days, it felt like he could drown in all the things he liked about Billy. Some days, all he wanted in the world was to run off and never have to pay attention to anyone or anything else.

It was a fact of Steve’s life: he loved Billy. 

Unfortunately, the more he was forced to acknoweldge it, the more unsure he felt about everything. 

Billy offered the pack when Steve sat up. He watched Steve light it, staring at him with an unreadable look. Steve hurriedly wiped at his face to make sure there wasn’t any cum on his mouth. 

“What?” he asked, satisfied that he was clean. 

“Nothing.” 

Steve hated it when Billy did that. 

Arguably, Billy had started the thing between them when he first kissed Steve months ago. But who knew where his head had been at that time. Had he done it because he wanted Steve, or would anyone else do when he was craving something physical? 

It wouldn’t be as worrying if Steve wasn’t in deep and if Billy didn’t run so hot and cold. 

Some days, he’d keep his hands entirely to himself, and Steve would be stuck feeling ravenous. Some days, Billy would treat him in such a way that Steve was certain the thing between them was about to end. 

Every now and then he would still fall into one of his darker moods; he’d pick a fight with anyone, and Steve couldn’t always snap him out of it. 

But then there were times where he would look at Steve softly, and something warm would settle in Steve’s chest. 

It was terrifying. 

“Weirdo,” Steve snorted.  

Maybe Billy’s tumultuous headspace was the reason Steve felt unsteady. If Billy touched his dick, he’d suddenly realize he didn’t want this thing with Steve. 

If one of them was a girl, their affair would be a lot easier. 

“Should’ve grabbed a pop,” Steve said, flicking his ash out the window. “I need to rinse my mouth out.” 

Billy hummed, then grabbed his hair and kissed him hard. It wasn’t helpful for the taste, but Steve still melted. Maybe one day Billy would decide that he wasn’t worth the trouble, but the harder Steve tried to make him happy, the further off that day would be.  

 

Normally, Steve had a hard time keeping track of dates. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, it was just that things slipped through his mind. But he’d been counting down the days for almost a month, so he knew it was only nine days until Billy’s birthday. 

He was thinking as much as he dug through his locker, looking for the funyuns he’d promised Billy. 

“Good morning, Steve.” 

Steve nearly jumped when Nancy Wheeler’s voice came out of nowhere. He pulled his head out of his locker and saw her standing there, smiling and clutching a textbook to her chest. 

Her two shadows, Byers and Broccoli (he knew that wasn’t her name, but it was practically a private term of endearment at this point), have hung back.

Nancy tilted her chin down and looked up at him through her eyelashes. Steve had noticed before that she pulled that look a lot. He wondered what it would look like if Billy tried it with his ridiculous eyelashes. 

“Morning,” Steve smiled back, hoping she wasn’t going to try and talk. Billy and the others were waiting on him. 

“So, I was wondering,” Nancy glanced briefly over her shoulder at her shadows. “Do you have a date to the Spring Fling?” 

Steve blinked and quickly looked up at Byers. He looked really short next to Broccoli. Also, Steve could have sworn he and Nancy were dating. 

“I don’t,” he said hesitantly. Nancy brightened ominously. “I don’t know if I’m going, honestly.” 

He hadn’t given thought to the Spring Fling. If he went, people would expect him to have a date. And there was only one person who Steve would like to call his date. Honestly, some days, he got so annoyed with everyone. He wished it was only him and Billy. 

Some days, Steve pointedly did not wonder if Billy wanted to be with him that much as well.  

“What’s the fucking hold up?” Billy grumbled, making Steve jump yet again. Why was everyone sneaking up on him? 

Billy leaned around Steve, shoving the little used textbooks out of the way to get to a semi-crushed yellow bag. Then he looked between Steve and Nancy, his eyes practically glimmering with boredom. 

Steve cleared his throat and forced another smile for Nancy. “I’ve been doing extra cramming lately,” he said. “Gotta make sure I graduate, or else everyone might end up having to put up with me an extra year.” 

He tilted his head in a way he knew was endearing, and a fluffy lock fell across his forehead. 

Nancy giggled and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. She looked a little disappointed, and possibly uncomfortable with Billy’s lurking. “That’s responsible of you. Good luck with your studying.” 

“Thanks,” Steve closed his locked after pushing Billy out of the way. “Catch you later.” 

His next period was study hall, and at Billy’s nagging and pinching, Steve had actually taken to doing his homework so Billy could look it over after school. In a way, Steve wasn’t actually lying to Nancy. 

“So, do you have a problem with Nancy Wheeler?” he asked as Billy followed him down the hall. He thought he could sense definite hostility. 

Billy wadded up the emptied bag and tossed it to the side. There wasn’t even a garbage can, it hit the floor with a crinkle. “Who?” 

“The girl who was just talking to us.” 

“She wasn’t talking to me,” Billy muttered. He looked around the hall before he grabbed Steve’s arm and dragged him toward the janitor’s closet. 

Steve planned to say something like, what about study hall, but Billy kissed him hard. 

If he was a more optimistic person, Steve might have thought Billy was jealous. 

 

He didn’t end up going to the dance. Instead, he went with Billy, Tommy, and Carol to see a movie. Tommy and Carol started making out halfway through and were too distracted to see the hand Billy put on Steve’s thigh. 

 

“Okay, so Josh B. is bringing a keg, Jessica and Ashley are making the cake, Carol said you guys could come over early to get the banner up, and,” Steve looked up from his scrawled notes and scowled at Tommy. The weekend had been so pleasant, Steve had thought his tantrum was finally over. “Are you listening?” 

Tommy shrugged. 

“Alright,” Steve slammed his notebook shut and shoved it aside. “I’ve had enough of this. Who pissed in your cereal?” 

“Just don’t see why you have to throw him a party,” Tommy said, slouching in his chair. “Why isn’t his dad doing it?” 

“You know his dad is a douchebag. And you know that I know that the party isn’t what this is about.” Did that sentence make sense? The tightening of Tommy’s shoulders meant it was clear enough. 

“Doesn’t matter.” 

“Bullshit,” Steve snapped. It was one thing to have a bitchfest at school, but Tommy was not going to ruin Billy’s birthday party. “Spit it out or suck it up.” 

Tommy’s face went red, it made his freckles even darker. He glared at Steve with his nostrils flaring. “You _never_ threw me a party!” 

Steve blinked. 

“But suddenly Hargrove rolls into town and he gets all the parties, and the snacks, and, and,” as suddenly as he exploded, Tommy deflated. “I thought I was your best friend.” 

Until that moment, it hadn’t crossed Steve’s mind that people would think of Billy as his new best friend. Billy was something else to him. “He’s not replacing you,” Steve said quietly, watching Tommy for any further outburst. “You’re my best friend.” 

Tommy scoffed, “you like him better. You’re always taking off with him.” 

“You take off with Carol all the time.” 

“That’s different, we’re－” Tommy stopped mid sentence with his mouth hanging open. Then Steve realized his misstep. 

“Tommy,” he started. 

“Holy shit, that’s it, isn’t it?” His voice broke on the last word. Tommy jumped to his feet, whipping his head around as if to make sure he wasn’t being pranked or spied on. Then he came around the table, staring at Steve. “Isn’t it?” 

Steve kept his mouth shut. He knew that the moment he opened it, he would make the situation worse. Tommy would tell everyone, his parents would disown him, Billy would kill him and then dump him. 

Tommy took his silence as affirmation and he practically collapsed against the table. “Oh thank god,” he exhaled to Steve’s confusion. “So he’s your boyfriend, not your best friend. You scared me, man!” 

“What.” 

“I thought you were ditching me,” Tommy fidgeted, messing with the edge of Steve’s notebook. “I didn’t realize you...just...were gay?” 

“I’m not,” Steve said. 

Tommy squinted at Steve. 

“I’m not,” Steve insisted. “It’s, I still like girls.” It felt like he should really shut up, but it was coming out like word vomit. “But I like him too. I like both, like, like David Bowie.” 

Tommy mouthed ‘David Bowie’ before he snapped his fingers. “Bisexual.” 

“Sure.” He hadn’t thought of that before. Bisexual, like David Bowie, that made him feel kind of like a rockstar. 

“Great! Okay, so what did Carol say we’d do?” Tommy opened the notebook. Steve’s pen marked the page where he’d written everyone’s tasks. 

He was completely relaxed, more so than he’d looked in at least a week. It baffled Steve that Tommy could accept this all so easily, but he didn’t mention it so as not to rock the boat. But he did say, “you can’t tell. Not even Carol.”  

“I won’t,” Tommy said in one of his rare moments of solemnity. “After all, I’m your _best_ friend.” 

Steve laughed. “Don’t make it weird.” 

 

Two days left until Billy’s birthday party. Everything was ready, the secret invites had been sent out and as far as Steve could tell, Billy was none the wiser. Obviously, he wasn’t going to bring Billy over so everyone could jump out and scare him. But he did plan to wait until he picked Billy up to tell him. 

It was enough of a surprise, but not so much so that it would upset Billy. 

“Wait a minute,” Steve said suddenly, interrupting his train of thought. “Did you say California?” 

Steve’s parents had left the week before, so they were back to hanging out in his living room. Tommy considered his duty as _best_ friend (he was totally being weird about it) to make sure Steve got alone-time with Billy, and distracted Carol with a pizza date. 

Billy shrugged, and because his arm was around Steve’s shoulders, Steve jostled into him. “Yeah, going back over the summer and it fucking sucks.” 

“Wh-when did this happen? You’re leaving?” Steve’s fingers curled into Billy’s shirt as if he could keep him there. 

“Not forever, dumbass,” Billy covered Steve’s hand with his and slowly peeled it away from his shirt.  

It was all well and good to say ‘not forever’ but Billy was very open to how much he hated being in Hawkins pretty much every second of every day, excluding when his dick is in Steve’s mouth. Who was to say that Billy wouldn’t decide to stay. 

The sudden sinking feeling left Steve spiraling so he held Billy’s hand instead of his shirt. “I thought you loved California,” he said, keeping his voice calm. “Why does it suck?” 

“First of all, I have to ride in a car with _him_ ,” Billy never called Neil Hargrove ‘dad’. Steve vibrated with the same hatred for him, so he grimaced to match Billy. California was a very long drive to be stuck in a truck with Neil. “And when we do get there, we’re just picking up _them_.” 

Steve frowned, running his thumb over Billy’s knuckles. They’re a little bit red from a fight he’d gotten into yesterday. “Them...being…” 

“Susan and her shitty brat.” 

Ah, right, the stepmother and stepsister. It felt like forever ago that Billy told Steve that he’d moved out to Hawkins to get the house ready for them. 

“How long will it take?” 

“About two weeks. Depends on how ready they actually are to leave.” Steve was getting better at reading Billy’s moods. It helped if he wanted to avoid Billy trying to pick a fight with him. He could feel the buzz of Billy’s annoyance where their hands touched. 

Steve scooted closer and gingerly rested his head on Billy’s shoulder. “I’m going to miss you,” he said, squeezing Billy’s hand. 

There was a pause before Billy squeezed. “Yeah. Me too.” 

 

Billy’s birthday party was huge. Almost every high schooler in Hawkins, and plenty from the towns around showed up before the sun went down. Steve spared no expense on pizza, chips, pop, pot, booze; all worth it for the pleased, cheshire grin he got from Billy when they pulled up in his driveway.

His house was going to be a fucking disaster by the next day, but that was what cleaning services who could keep their mouths shut were for. 

“Happy Birthday,” Steve whispered as they approached the front door. The music was easily audible from inside, but he knew Billy heard him. “My bedroom door is locked, so it’ll be nice and clean in there when you need to crash.” 

“Mighty generous, King Steve,” Billy drawled, but his eyes were bright. 

Steve shook his head and pushed the door open. “Get in there, birthday boy.” 

 

Steve lost track of almost everything, he was usually a good host, but Billy was the star so he took it easy. Hence why he ended up incredibly high and lying on one of the deck chairs. Someone had put on his mom’s Supremes album. 

He tried to sing along to the songs he didn’t know while surveying the pool. He wanted to jump in, but there were already so many bodies in the pool. Half of them had beers in hand, but Heather was training to be a JR lifeguard, so it was probably fine. 

At some point, Billy had been next to him, but had quickly gotten lost in the crowd. It didn’t help that Steve had to chase down a roach that had disappeared from his hand. He didn’t recall finding it, but lo and behold it was back in his hand with a bonus cookie in the other. 

“I’m gonna get fat,” Steve told the cookie, raising his voice so it could hear him over Where Did Our Love Go. Would Billy still like him if all Steve ate was cookies? Probably, because Steve’s hair was amazing. 

“Hey dingus, are you gonna eat that cookie or bore it to death?” 

“This cookie is riveted by my hair talk,” Steve rolled his head toward the girl that he didn’t recognize. She was stealing his pot. “Hey.” 

She held up a middle finger as she took a deep hit. But she handed it back after, so Steve didn’t complain further. 

What he did do was a bite out of his cookie. It was chocolate chip and delicious. “Do I know you?” 

“See that’s the thing about schoolwide invitations. You get people you don’t know.” She sat on the ground next to the chair, checking the cuffs on her jeans. 

Steve rolled fully onto his side because being on his back with his head turned was too confusing for him. 

“Fair enough,” he said. “Do you know Billy? It’s his birthday.” 

“Yeah, it’s written all over your house.” She looked past him, where Steve was aware someone had written ‘HAPPY B-DAY B-BOY’ on the glass slider. “I didn’t know you threw parties for people.” 

“You don’t know me.” 

“ _You_ don’t know _me_ ,” she corrected. “But I know you. Tammy Thompson stares at you in Click’s class.” 

Steve for the life of him couldn’t remember Tammy Thompson’s face, or anything about class they apparently shared. Billy might get mad at him for literally forgetting what classes he had, but maybe if he smoked more he’ll circle around to remembering good. Steve took another hit and offering it. 

She took it, staring at it with a sad look. “You don’t even care that she likes you, huh?” 

“Lots of people like me,” he pointed out. “Even Billy likes me, and he hates everything.” 

It occurs to Steve that he might have been talking too much about Billy when the girl stared at him. “So _do_ you know Billy?” He was too high to stop himself. 

“I don’t,” she said, still staring. She had a lot of freckles like Tommy. Billy had freckles too, but they were mostly on his nose, and not super visible through his tan. 

“But you know Tammy?” 

“No.” Her face looked bad. Not bad, but not good, like she wasn’t not good about that. 

“Wish you did?” Steve asked with minor jealousy. Lots of people wanted to be popular. Maybe this girl wasn’t popular but thought Tammy would make her popular. 

Popular was a weird word.

The girl’s eyes were red, hopefully from the pot. She shouldn’t be feeling sad when she was high. Sad was a down feeling. Was pot a downer? 

“It just, you know, sucks,” She took a second hit. “Looking at someone when they’re not looking back.” 

Like Tammy, Steve thought. Maybe it sucked for her because Steve wasn’t looking back? It wasn’t like he was trying to be mean, but he was already looking at Billy. He wished his mind worked faster. “Are you looking at someone?” 

Her eyes drifted away, and Steve could hear a muppet voice singing along with WHAM! (When at the album changed?) 

Oh. Steve’s brain caught up to their conversation. _Oh_. “Are you like David Bowie?” 

The girl wrinkled her nose. “Where is he on the Kinsey Scale, because I’m about a 5.” 

Steve wouldn’t necessarily call her a 5. “How far does the scale go? Because Billy’s a 10.” 

“It goes to 6.” The sad look finally faded. “And I don’t think you mean that.” 

“Billy’s a 10!” Steve insisted and he shoved the rest of his cookie into his mouth as if that would win the argument. Then he stole the roach back; anyone who tried to call Billy a 6 didn’t deserve it. 

“Right. Oh heads up, Nancy Wheeler at 3 o’clock.” 

Steve checked his watch. 

“Hi Steve, Robin,” Nancy approached them, sitting delicately on the ground as well, adjusting her skirt as she did. 

It was a nice skirt and it made her look like a princess. Steve wondered where Byers and Broccoli were lurking. Shouldn’t princesses have knights or something?  

He grinned at Nancy and handed the pot off to Robin. “Here, go see if you can make Tammy stop singing.” 

Robin it with a snort that Steve didn’t feel as though he deserved. “I’ll catch you around, dingus.” 

“Bye girl-Tommy!” Steve called after her. 

Then he turned to Nancy. He  couldn’t help but notice that she looked incredibly sober considering she was at a rager. “Hey Nance, how’s it going? Am I standing?” 

“No Steve,” she laughed. That explained why she didn’t seem short. “Are you okay, do you need water or anything?” 

“Nah.” He’d kill for a second cookie. “Thanks though. Are you having a good time?” 

Nancy nodded, still smiling. Steve was not surprised, he was adorable. “It’s really nice of you to throw a party for your friend.” 

“Yeah, his dad’s a butt-ass, so someone’s gotta do it.” Steve realized he was still on his side. Only he was on a different side. He sat up and stretched his arms. He had wallowed all the way off these chairs before, he didn’t want to take the chance. “Do know where he is? I haven’t seen him in a thousand years. Billy I mean.” 

Nancy hummed, looking around as if the sea of faces isn’t blurring together. Steve momentarily envied her sobriety. “Last I saw him was in the kitchen.” 

“Great!” Steve tried to get his feet on the ground but he wobbled when he tried to stand. “Don’t suppose I could borrow your shoulder?”

Nancy looked thrilled. 

After minor stumbling, Steve saw that Billy was inside in the kitchen. Someone had made jello shots. 

“There he is!” Steve crowed. “You’re a genius, Nancy!” 

His yelling caught Billy’s attention and he looked between Steve and Nancy with a raised eyebrow. Steve moved his arm from Nancy’s shoulder and tried to skip towards him, but he nearly fell again. 

“That fucker came out of nowhere!” Steve pointed accusingly threshold between the tiled kitchen and carpeted living room.

“I got him,” he heard Billy saying. 

“Thank you,” Steve hugged Billy tightly. “You’re my rock.” 

“I should not have to babysit you at my own birthday,” Billy said as he half dragged Steve to the kitchen table. 

“You love it,” Steve retorted, sinking into the chair that Billy pulled out. “But fair’s fair,” he stared up at Billy and licked his lips slowly. “I’ll owe you tomorrow.”  

Billy grinned like a crocodile. 

 

The pizza was a little too greasy, but Steve dutifully ate a few slices and downed three big glasses of water. He was sobering up quickly as the party started to die down. Surprisingly, Billy was still conscious and wandering around, kicking people onto their sides and just plainly kicking some people out. 

“It really doesn’t matter,” Steve started to trail after him, holding onto Billy’s elbow. “People crash after parties all the time.” 

Billy kept kicking until Steve started pulling him toward the stairs. “Come on,” he whined. “I’m tired, let’s go to bed.” 

“You’re a fucking lightweight,” Billy grumbled although he let himself be led up toward Steve’s bedroom. 

Steve got his door open and flipped on the light before he pushed Billy inside. He quickly shut and locked the door behind him in case anyone else was still looking for a bed. Most people were passed out or gone, but there were always wild cards that could burst into a private moment. 

“Did you lay out pajamas?” Billy asked incredulously. 

“Yep!” In fact, he’d bought a larger pair specifically for Billy. He held up the top to Billy’s chest and grinned. “You’re going to look so cute in plaid.” 

“I’ve seen enough plaid to make me puke.” 

“Fuck off, I didn’t pick the wallpaper.” Steve tossed the top back on the bed and then paused. “Do you actually have to puke though? Because I can get a bucket.” 

Billy scoffed, “haven’t gotten that shitfaced before, won’t start now.” 

“Not even on your birthday?” 

Billy gave him a look before pulling off his shirt in favor of the plaid. 

“Right, right, never too drunk to get it up.” Jealous and hatred toward unnamed, unseen people from someone’s past was a weird feeling. 

“You think I’m getting laid every birthday now?” 

Steve shrugged. He made it a point to at least try and get a little action since he started high school. Not that it worked for him, he’d only recently hit his last growth spurt. But he expected Billy didn’t have nearly the same trouble. 

Billy shook his head and started changing his pants. “I got one shitty blowjob from Chrissie Walsch in a Carl’s Jr parking lot, and it wasn’t even my birthday.” 

He looked like a Christmas ad in his pajamas. 

“Nothing on your birthday?” 

“Nope.” 

“Valentine’s Day?” 

“You gonna sleep in your jeans?” 

Steve rolled his eyes and went to his dressed for some sweats. “I was just asking.” 

“I already answered,” Billy replied, matching Steve’s tone. He flopped onto the bed, sighing contentedly. “Your bed is awesome.” 

“Thanks.” Steve finished dressing for bed as he considered Billy’s so called answer. “That answer sounded like you got one shitty blowjob in your entire life,” he couldn’t help but point out. 

“Until you.” 

Steve turned and stared at Billy. He was sprawled out on the bed, looking at Steve with a bored expression. Even a month ago it would have seemed like the perfect poker face. Steve flipped off the light and shuffled through the darkness to turn on the lamp next to his bed. 

“Oh.” He wanted to ask who Chrissie Walsch was. Why didn’t Billy ever go with anyone else. Why he openly admitted that he was a virgin, despite everything about him screaming Lothario. “Cool.” 

Billy raised an eyebrow. 

“Does that mean I’m the best you’ve ever had?” He went for cheesy instead of nosey. It paid off because Billy laughed and then pulled him in for a kiss. 

They didn’t go much further than that. It had been a long night, with lots of drinking, and Billy still had the smell of chlorine in his hair. Steve only barely managed to turn the lamp off before he fell asleep. 

 

Billy borrowed his shower the next morning and sat around in Mr. Harrington’s robe while Steve washed his clothes. Fortunately, he waited until after everyone else had left before he did. 

“You sure you don’t want help cleaning?” He asked from the couch as Steve puttered away, making eggs and toast. 

“I’m not really cleaning,” Steve said. “I hire a service to do that after big parties.” 

“My mistake, your highness,” Billy said with a British accent. “Leave it to the peasants.” 

“Keep talking, I’m about to throw your eggs in the garbage.” Instead of the garbage, Steve pushed the only slightly overdone scrambled eggs onto a plate where toast was waiting. “Would you rather I spend all day cleaning instead of hanging out with you?” 

“I’m not desperate for your attention.” 

Steve had to laugh at that. Billy wasn’t on Tommy’s level of neediness, but he was still as demanding as a spoiled cat. He set the plate on Billy’s lap before sitting down. “Eat your food.” 

“There’s no fork.” 

“Use the bread, I’m tired.” 

The moment Billy picked up the plate, Steve lied down with his head on Billy’s lap. It was only a little weird with the whole bathrobe thing. He idly ran his finger up and Billy’s shin, staring blankly at the TV. 

“Did you like it?” he asked quietly. 

Billy’s response was muffled around the food. 

“Your birthday party, I mean.” 

There was a brief pause before Billy responded. One of his hands came to rest in Steve’s hair. “Best birthday ever.” 

Steve sighed, melting into the touch. ‘Best’ was something he could get used to when it came from Billy’s incredibly arbitrary standards. But on the other hand, Steve knew he could do better. 

But first, he would need some supplies. 

“Do you think you’ll be able to stay the night again tonight?” 

“Probably not. I’m already gonna catch Hell for staying out last night.” 

Steve bristled. He was one more split lip away from flat out hiring someone to murder Neil Hargrove. “Sucks. What about next weekend?” 

“Why?” Billy curled some of Steve’s hair around his finger until it tugged at Steve’s scalp. “You got something in mind.” 

“Maybe,” Steve sang. “Can’t tell you what because it’s part of your present.” 

 

Luckily for Neil Hargrove, Billy showed up at school without any new bruises. Although he did complain about all the work he had to do on ‘that little bitch’s’ room.’ Tommy commiserated as best he could, comparing the hard labor to the fact that he had to take out the garbage on Sunday. 

Billy was largely unimpressed and blew smoke in his face. 

Tommy laughed it off and gave Billy a Mötley Crüe tape with a piece of string tied into a bow on it. “This is from me and Carol.” 

“Where is Carol?” Steve asked. Normally if she wasn’t joined at the hip with Tommy, she was in the process of storming up to them with something minor to scream about. It was a weird energy to keep up with, but it was still entertaining. 

“Still sleeping it off. She something about dog fur not working?” Tommy frowned, and so did Steve. 

“What does that mean?” 

“I’m going to class,” Billy shoved past them, still holding the tape. “And the phrase is ‘hair of the dog’.” 

Tommy elbowed Steve with an obnoxiously large smile. “Have a good weekend?” 

“You’re way too comfortable with this,” Steve groaned, covering his face. “Also, seriously, not in public.” 

“Right, right,” Tommy patted his shoulder. “Just bask in the glory, man. Everyone’s still talking about your party.” 

Steve was pleased to hear that. He said a quick goodbye before running to catch up with Billy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think that the way I write dialogue is a good reminder for people that it's really hard to write dialogue.

**Author's Note:**

> Haaa, the prompt line ended up being directed at Tommy! 
> 
> I sometimes wonder what the trajectory of Steve's behavior would have been if he hadn't been influenced by Nancy. 
> 
> Hope you like it, posting the next part in the next few days depending on wi-fi. 
> 
> Also feel free to hit me up on tumblr if you got prompts: mustardprecum


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